Scar Stories
by Nadie2
Summary: Jack tells Gracie fairy tales at bedtime. But these "Super Sam" stories sound just a little bit familar. A humerous look at some of SG-1's missions.  Sort of a sequal to Child of the Godslayers.
1. Uncle Danny and the Princess

The Uncle and the Princess

All these stories will be in Gracie's POV.

Gracie's five which makes it about session 9

Might want to brush up on the plot of the episode, "Need."

My father's body is a map. I can trace on it the adventures my mother and father had together. Each scar, dent, and worn joint is a visual reminder of some adventure. Of course, the ones he tells me aren't the real adventures. How ever my father really earned those marks is a secret, like everything else about his and Mom's job. But he tells me stories at bedtime, fairy tales, one per wound.

I touch the underside of his left knee, and he grins at me. He likes to tell the story, he gets to make fun of Uncle Danny in it.

"So your Uncle Danny sees this beautiful princess, and you know what he does when that happens."

"He falls in love," I say.

"Instantly," Daddy grins, "So this princess gets mad, because…" He always pauses here so I know it's even more of a lie than the rest, "because of the evil pixie dust." There is a lot of evil pixie dust in Daddy's stories, "So the evil princess and her very evil father the king, who drank evil pixie dust for breakfast, threw us in the diamond mines. We slaved day in and day out, until at long last we saw out chance for escape. Super Sam," that is what he always calls Mommy in our stories. Mommy always saves the day, " fought bravely."

"Did the rest of you fight?" I ask longing for the familiar answer

"Course we fought, but…"

"One Super Sam is worth a thousand mortal men," I finished, "So you all got away?"

"Well most of us got away, but you know your Uncle Danny," he says.

"He dies a lot," I said with a grin.

Daddy grins at me, "But don't worry,"

"Because he has a really great fairy godmother, and never stays dead."

"That's right Gracie girl."  
>"So Uncle Danny dies," he continues, "and the princess drags him off to give him a sip of the evil pixie dust which brings you back to life."<p>

"But only at the price of your soul," I add.

"But he didn't know that yet," Daddy adds. "He took just one sip of the pixie dust, and it had him. That's why drugs are bad Gracie girl. Just say no." I didn't really get what he meant, so I just let him keep talking. "So Uncle Danny decides to get married to the princess."

I roll my eyes, "But Uncle Danny was already married."

"Yeah, pixie dust makes you forget stuff like that. So I went to tell him having two wives would be a seriously bad plan. One is hard enough, 'specially when she's got a pixie controlling her."

"And you told him Super Sam was chained up and working in the mine."

"Right, and with Super Sam chained how much could you expect to get done? Then these guys working for Uncle Daniel…"

"Smack you right in your bad knee."

"Why do they always go for the bad knee Gracie? Why?" he says tickling me.

"Don't know Daddy!" I say giggling.

"And they make me kneel before Uncle Danny."

"Because you certainly wouldn't have any other way."

"Of course not, but I manage to convince Uncle Danny to come home with me."

"Because you are just that wise."

"And persuasive, so Uncle Danny agrees to marry the princess, we all get on the magic carpet, and head home."

"But Uncle Danny doesn't marry the princess does he Daddy?"

"Not that princess, sweetheart, but he really wanted to. Really, really wanted to. But more than anything Uncle Danny wanted,…"

"…just one more taste of the pixie dust. But Auntie Janet fixed him right, Daddy?"

"Only because Super Sammy told her all we had to do was wait. Then Danny would hurt for a while before he got all better."

"'Cause Super Sammy always saves the day right Daddy?"

"Of course, baby," he says kissing me.

Mom's standing at the door with her arms crossed. She's trying to look very mad. But she's also trying not to laugh. "Jack," she says.

"Samantha," he says with a grin.

"We've had the discussion about classified before, Jack."

"Sammy you cannot classify pixie dust. There's got to be some kind of a law."


	2. Lifting the Curse

The Curse's Cure

Might want to brush up on "Divide and Conquer."

I touch my finger to Daddy's temple. There is a dent there so small that Mom swears you can't even see it. You really can't, but you can feel it. Daddy grins. He knows this is my favorite Supper Sam story. It's like Sleeping Beauty with a few more twists and turns.

"So the bad guys came up with a way to brainwash the good guys."

"Like my Mommy and Daddy."

"Right Gracie, they did it with a powerful curse. A curse that could make you hurt anyone, even the person you loved most in the world."

"But there was something stronger than the curse wasn't there Daddy?"

"Of course Gracie, the strongest thing in all the world."

"Love Daddy," I say falling back on the bed.

He giggles "They knew someone had the curse, but they didn't know who. But if you had the curse you could tell, because you stopped telling the truth."

"They thought you and Mommy were lying?" I asked.

"I think it's time you start telling these stories Gracie," he says with a smile.

"No Daddy, let's keep telling them together."

"Sounds good, Gracie. So a fairy came to help us."

"Why do you hate fairies Daddy?"

"They aren't far from pixie's Gracie. So this fairy Fraya had a magic wand."

"That she put right there," I say touching the spot you cannot see, but only feel.

"Right, and she could tell if you were lying with her magic wand. She asked us to tell her about everything we'd done for the last long while, and decided you were lying."

"But you weren't Daddy were you?"

"Well Gracie, we were sort of lying, by omission. Only we didn't even know it. We had hidden out love so deep down we didn't even know it was there. We didn't tell them that the whole time, no matter what we did, we were in love though it all." I let out a happy sigh, he giggles at me. "So everyone's scared we're going to hurt someone, and their only choice is to put a sleeping curse on both of us."

"But there is something stronger than this curse right Daddy?"

"There is always something stronger than the curse Gracie."

"Love, Daddy," I say, and he tickles me.

"So Auntie Janet is reading Mommy off into the sleeping curse, and Mommy grabs her hand, because Super Sam's super brain has solved another mystery."

"She always saves the day Daddy," I inform him.

"She has the fairy Fraya stick her wand back..."

"Right here," I say touching the spot.

"And she makes me tell the whole room I love her. Makes me to it first mind you."

"But then she says that she loves you," I point out.

"That she does."

"And it breaks the curse."

"Both of them."

"And they lived happily ever after," I say slipping beneath the covers.

"Until they had a little girl…" he says grinning.

"Hey!" I protest.

He kisses me, "And then they lived even more happily ever after.

Dad gets up and flips off the light as he leaves the room. I hear Mommy's voice in the hall. "You left a few things out, Jack."

"Nope, I think I covered it all," Daddy says.

"You left out the Tok…"

Daddy cuts her off, "Fairy."

"Right you left out the fairy hitting on you."

"Danny had one big mouth!"


	3. Uncle Murray's Belly Button

Uncle Murray's Belly Button

Daddy declared a team day. I love team days because it means that I get to see Uncle Murray, and Uncle Danny, and Grandpa George if I'm lucky. It's like a family reunion. Uncle Daniel's apartment has a pool, and that's were Dad decided the team night was going to be. I love swimming. But turns out I was the only one in the pool.

"Come on, everyone in NOW!" I demand.

Uncle Murray raises his eyebrow at me. Uncle Danny looks at Daddy and says, "Where did she get THAT from Jack?"  
>But I'm not stupid, I know how to get my way. It's called a splash. In one instant all of the adults are soaking wet, and I'm moving into the center of the pool, just in case they are really mad.<p>

Dad jumps into the pool, catching me, and tickling me.

"Come on T," he prompts. He always calls Uncle Murray T, although I don't know why.

Uncle Murray raises one eyebrow, "I do not believe that is wise O'Neill."

"Come on T, we're family." He says.

So Uncle Murray peels of his shirt, and climbs into the pool.

"Uncle Murray, why is your belly button so huge?"

Uncle Daniel snorts, and Mommy laughs. Uncle Murray raises an eyebrow and says, "Grace O'Neill there are things which you are not permitted knowledge of."

"I got this one T," Daddy says, "Gracie when Uncle Teal was a little boy."

"In a country far far away?" I ask.

"Right," Daddy says, "The pixie's filled his belly up with pixie dust. It was in his belly for a long time. That scar is what is left of it."

"Did the pixie dust steal his soul?" I ask in horror. Maybe that was why Uncle Murray barely talks.

"No Gracie. When they put it in your stomach it's different. It's…well, it's storage, Gracie."

Mom is dying of laughter, and I think I almost see a smirk on Uncle Murray's face.

"Yeah," Dad says growing on confidence because of the adult's delight at his story continues, "So they STORED pixie dust in Uncle Murray when he was a kid. But he couldn't take it out."

"Why not, he's strong," I inform him.

Daddy laughs, "That he is, Gracie, that he is. But if he took out the pixie dust…"

"I would be cursed by the pixies, and become ill," Uncle Murray says with a face you wouldn't think fairy takes could be told in.

"Is it still in there?" I asked fascinated.

"No, Gracie, Super Sammy found a cure for that."

"She always saves the day," I inform Uncle Murray.

Uncle Murray raises his eyebrow at Daddy.

"Isn't that how you remember it T?" he asks.

"Indeed," Uncle Murray says.

"How did Mommy cure Uncle Murray?"

Mommy walks up to the edge of the pool, "This one wasn't me Gracie, well, most of them weren't me. Some smart people on another…uh…country far far away," Daddy's giggling, "figured out how to make medicine that made it so Uncle Murray doesn't need pixie dust."

"His shot?" I ask.

"Indeed," Uncle Murray supplied.

"Yeah, but Sammy, who figured out how to adapt the medicine for…uh…that situation," Daddy asked.

"The farries," she sneered.

"And we met the farries because…" he prompted

"I know!" I exclaimed hoping out of the water, "Mommy made friends with Jolinar!"

"Fiends with Jolinar? Seriously Jack?" Mom says with a face of distain, and maybe a bit of pain.

"That's how I remember it Carter," he says with a laugh.

"Alright," Mommy says throwing her hands up in the air, "I give. I saved the day again."


	4. Star

Star

I see the beautiful sparkly star, and the spot on top of the tree where the star is going to go. I have to figure out a way to do this myself. Daddy is just the sort of person who would feel it his "duty" to place the star. Like mom says he's a bit of a child. So I carefully arrange some boxes, and I think I'm going to get away with it until I put my foot on the first box. Daddy scoops me up around the waist and says, "Whatcha doing Gracie?"

"Daddy, don't you think putting the star on the top of the tree is a job for a little girl?"

He laughs, "but you can't reach."

"That's what the boxes are for, Daddy."

"How about you use an old soldier shoulders? Much safer," he says as he lifts me up onto his shoulders.

"Is it straight Daddy?" I ask.

"Perfect, Gracie, perfect. Hey Gracie, did I ever tell you about the time your mother blew up a star?"

"Daddy, that's absurd!"

Mommy and Daddy are laughing at me. People always laugh at little kids who use big words.

"Oh, not absurd Gracie, Super Sammy is just that awesome," Daddy says.

"Actually Grandpa Jacob had a lot to do with that one," Mom adds. She's come to accept even the most outrageous of Daddy's stories now.

"Ok, Daddy, how did Mommy blow up a star?" I ask thinking this story will at least be funny.

"Really not as hard as you'd think. Stars have a delicate balance. If you take just a little bit out of the star it explodes," Mom says defensively.

"But how do you get to the star?" I ask.

"Well, we got a really awesome magic carpet from the bad guys. Grandpa Jacob wanted to borrow it. Well actually he wanted to keep it. But that wasn't happening," Daddy explains.

"But how could you breath?"

"Oh, Sam she's definitely your daughter. Smart as a whip little Gracie," he says mussing my hair, "It's a really awesome magic carpet with magical…uh…breathing…" Daddy mummers.

"Space suits," Mommy says.

"Space suits, that's good Sam. So wearing our space suits on our magic carpet we blew up a star," Daddy says.

"How?" I ask.

"Magic lamp," Mom says.

"That we used to wish for a vacuum cleaner," Daddy adds.

"Vacuum cleaner?" Mom laughs.

"Yep, 'cause a vacuum cleaner is a great way to suck a little mass out of the center of a star," Dad says with a grin.

"Why did you blow up the star?" I ask.

"Usual reasons, army of pixies," He said.

"They all died," I asked concerned, concerned even for my father's fictional enemies.

"Oh, Gracie, don't ever lose that," Daddy says with pride, "But they didn't all die."

"How did they get away?" I asked.

"Same way we did. Really fast uh, carpet fibers," Daddy said.

"You tell the most outrageous stories," I say.

"But your leaving out the part where you saved the day, Jack," Mommy said. Daddy flinches. "The whole solar system is about to blow up. Uncle Murray is going down to fight with someone who had killed a good friend of his. Your father agrees to go with him. Agrees to go with him even when he knows…knows it will be dangerous," Mommy starts.

"There is heroism and there is foolhardy," Daddy says.

"And blowing up a star would be?" Mommy asks.

"I authorized that one Sammy," he says grinning at her, "I authorized all your crazy plans. Besides Sammy, I may have gone on crazy mission with Murray"

"During which you got shot," Mommy says.

I gasp.

"Little too honest Sammy," he says patting my head. Mommy looks at me apologetically.

"Where did you get shot, Daddy?" I ask.

"No big problem, I was just stunned. Uncle Murray got the worse of that one. Anyway Super Sammy launched a daring rescue mission and we all lived happily ever after," he gives me a kiss.

And I wonder. How much truth gets into the stories. How dangerous are their jobs?


	5. The Desert

Authors Note: Ok, so wonderful reviewer Schatze8210 pointed out that Jack does not have this scar at the beginning of the story. But hey Gracie arrives during session four so we'll just call it AU.

The Desert

Daddy has a lot of scars. But most of them are like the scar on his temple, scars you can feel, but not see. Daddy has one scar that you can see, the one in the middle of his eyebrow, but he won't tell me that story.

"Not a Super Sammy story," he says.

But tonight Mommy overhears it. "I'll tell you that story Gracie. Along time ago your dad was…on a magic carpet, and he jumped off."

"Why?" I asked in horror.

Mommy smiles, "he's a fly boy, Gracie, that's what they do. But he had a parachute."

"Oh Sam," he said falling back in surrender.

"You didn't think I figured out where you got that scar Jack? Smarter than you think," Mommy grins.  
>"Oh, I know you're incredibly smart Sammy, but next time you want to distract me don't make tell you a story."<p>

"Ok, Jack, next time I'll set your leg I won't distract you," she says with a smirk.

"Never again, Samantha," he says.

"What is setting a leg?" I ask.

"An incredibly painful…" Daddy starts.

"But necessary…" Mommy says glaring at him, "Procedure by which you move a broken bone so it heals right."

"Story," I bounce on the bed.

"That was a story," they say together, and they laugh.

"And Sammy you saved the day," Daddy said with a grin.

"Should have saved you sooner that time Jack, " and there is something real in her voice. Something real in the way he held her hand, and told her with his eyes that was a lie. That she saved him just in time.

"Besides," Mommy said turning to me, "It was really Uncle Danny, Grandpa George, and the cavalry who saved the day that time."

"Cavalry?" I ask.

"Horses," Daddy supplies, and Mommy throws a pillow at him.

But Mommy continues on, "the parachute didn't open Gracie, and Daddy broke, how many bones was it Jack?"

"Sam," he says in a warning voice.

"Well one of them was a Daddy's head. Don't gasp Gracie, I'm trying to tell you that Daddy always comes home," and she lifts up my chin so I look her in the eye. "You remember that, he always comes home."

"'Specially when I got this to come home to," he says putting his arms around us.

"Daddy was hurt bad," Mommy says eying his eyebrow scar, "but he crawled out of the desert to get home."

"To get to Super Sammy," I say confidently.

"Oh, not yet Gracie, this was before your father and I met. He was crawling through a desert to get home to someone else."

I'm staring at Daddy in horror.

"You remember I told you a long time ago I had another family," Daddy fumbles.

"Charlie?" I ask. Daddy almost never talks about Charlie, so I don't know much about him. I do know he would have been my big brother if he hadn't died. I know that he loved baseball, and he's the reason Daddy freaks out if I go anywhere near his locked den or pick up a toy gun.

"No Charlie wasn't born yet," Dad says softly.

Mom touches his scar with her thumb, distantly, like it's the one part of Daddy that doesn't belong to her, "He crawled of the desert for his first wife, Sarah."

"That cat came back, the very next day, the cat came back he just couldn't stay away," Daddy sings, tickling me. He is never serious for long.


	6. Making Friends with Johlinar

Making Friends with Johlinar

"Daddy," I say as he tucks me in, "I want to hear the story about how Mommy made friends with Johlinar and saved Grandpa Jacob."

"Baby, your Mom didn't seem too pleased with that story last time she heard about it," he says glancing nervously at the door. Mommy had taken to supervising bedtimes sometimes, "Making sure a fair story gets told" she called it.

"But she's never heard it. I think she thinks you left out things you didn't."

He brushes hair off my forehead, "Gracie, how did you get lucky enough to end up wise and smart?"

"I take after both my parents Daddy," I reply.

I think his laugh will bring Mommy for sure, but when it doesn't he starts, "So we were in a country…"

"Far, far away." I add.

"And they were at war, and we were trying to save them on magic carpets," Daddy continues, "and Mommy was giving one of them CPR," he breaths for a second. This is a story he doesn't really like to tell. But he tells it, because somehow he wants me to know. Even if this isn't the truth, if Johlinar isn't even real, he wants me to know something.

"But she didn't know his mouth was full of pixie dust," I prompt.

"Right, because this was early on, and we didn't know what happened when you swallowed pixie dust. And Mommy acted just like she always did…"

"Mostly," I reminded him.

He nodded, "But she was mean to T, and rude to Grandpa George, and looked right through Auntie Janet like she wasn't even there."

"But you didn't figure it out."

"No," he said swallowing hard, "No, I should have known, but I didn't." A flash of movement caught my eye in the door. I saw without looking that it was Mommy covering her mouth. She was almost in tears, and I wanted her to hear the whole story.

"It was Cassie," I said to Daddy.

"Right, Cassie told me, and only me, that pixie dust had stolen Mommy's soul. But I couldn't believe it. I still couldn't believe it," he closed his eyes.

"But she was right, and Mommy tried to kill you all," I informed him. Mommy snorts, and Dad turns to her.

"Jez I'm sorry Sam. I know you didn't want me telling her this story anymore. But she's awfully cute when she begs."

"Hum," Mom says pulling hair out of his eye, "Wonder where she got that from? But Jack, I didn't know the story was like this. 'Friends with Johlinar' sounded so flippant, like it didn't hurt."

"God it hurt Sammy," he says, and he looks like he's going to cry again.

"I didn't realize how much it hurt you Jack," she says.

"Wait 'til you hear the next part," I say. "So, Mommy tried to kill you all, and you locked her up," I reminded him.

"Gracie, why don't we pick another story," Daddy pleads. I look at his face, and wonder if my face really does look like that when I beg. If so, I totally understand why adults cave so often.

"No Gracie," Mommy says, "Tell me what happened next." And I do, even though I understand why Daddy doesn't want me to. Because the whatever he wants me to get out of the story. The something he wants me to know. It's the same something he wants to keep a secret from Mommy.

"Well, he goes and talks to you, argues with the, he says 'empty shell which used to be Mommy,' Isn't that poetic?" I ask her.

She looks over my head into Daddy's eyes, "Yeah, Gracie, it's very poetic."

"But you can't just will someone into having a soul," I tell her, "And back then we didn't have any friends in…" I can't remember the next words Daddy uses.

"High places," Daddy says.

"Right, so he didn't think you'd ever be you again," I say.

"But he kept coming," Mommy says looking eyes with Daddy. He's looking away.

"And Johlinar came, and sucked up all the evil pixie juice so she died, but you lived. And Johlinar was the first friend in a high place, right Daddy."

He nods, but he's still trying not to look at Mommy who is staring at him.

"But Johlinar gave you her memories before she left. Told you all sorts of secrets. Some of which were really good and some of which were…"

Daddy cuts me off, "Sokar." I don't know what this means, but they find it hilarious.

"And so when Grandpa Jacob got sick you made friends with Johlinar's friends, and the faries cured him," I finish.

Mom ruffles my hair.

"Mommy how come the faries couldn't save Grandpa Jacob the second time he got sick?" Grandpa has died less than a year ago.

"Because Gracie, the universe may hand out second chances, and thirds, and fourths, but one day it stops giving you chances." Mom says.

"To honest, Sammy," Daddy says kissing me on the forehead before putting his arm around Mommy and leading her out of the room. I have a feeling they had a longer discussion after they tucked me in. But they were rude enough to have it out of earshot.


	7. Magic Globe

Magic Globe

I touch my Daddy's left shoulder right on the long flat shoulder blade. There is a scar there, like an old blister which will never fade. It follows along his vein, just a touch of leftover swollen flesh. He smiles at me.

"That's not one of the best stories," he says.

"Haven't heard it in a while," I say.

"Well, Uncle Danny had us drag back a magic globe with itty bitty words he couldn't read all over it," Daddy says.

"Because that is exactly the sort of thing Uncle Danny loves," I said.

"And we drag it back and Super Sammy and Uncle Danny are hovering over it," he continues.

"Geek twins," I say.

"Yep, but then things started to go bad," Daddy says.

"And you saved the day," I say with a smile.

He thinks on this for a while, "I never save the day, Gracie."

"I think you saved the day a lot, Daddy," I say. He doesn't respond, but tickles me. I wonder if he wanted me to know, or if he really thought he'd keep it a secret forever.

"So T and I grab this weird globe as it pops open and we run it to…to a magic carpet," Daddy continues.

"And the globe starts throwing things everywhere," I say tenderly.

"Mostly," he touches the blister, "Right here."

"It pinned you to the wall," I say.

"And T shot at it," he says with a grin, "and then they got out the blow torch."

"But the globe wasn't the worse part," I prompted.

"No, that sucker came with a curse," he says, "Made me sick. Sicker than I've ever been. It spread across everything. It ate everything. It was a curse that threatened to kill everyone."

"But you first Daddy?" I ask.

He fiddle my hair, "Looked that way, but I had Super Sammy on my side."

"I don't think it was Mommy who saved you this time," I say, because I was starting to doubt some of Daddy's stories. Or at least his interpretation of them.

"She saved me alright, but only because…because she gave up on me," he said.

"Mommy would never give up on you, no man gets left behind," I say.

"Well," he smiles, "Sometimes we leave men behind, although usually not on purpose. But the curse, was going to take over the word. Danny thought it was trying to talk to us. That the curse was a thing-a person. A disease with a soul."

"Leave it to Uncle Danny."

"But he was right, and Super Sammy believed him. She cut off my antibiotics, and the curse-the disease with a soul talked through me."

"What did she say?" I ask. Usually we do the stories by the script. He tells it the same way every time. But lately, I don't know. I think there is something real beneath the stories, and if that's true, there are thing I have to know.

"Huh?" He asks. He's disorientated, because my question was not part of the script.

"What did Mommy say when she took away your medicine, when she let the curse take you?" There was more I wanted to ask. Did mommy really think she was killing you? How old was I when this happened? Will something like this happen again?

He looks at me for a long second, "I don't remember, Gracie." He waits a long moment, "I don't remember a lot of it. But I do remember T standing by me no matter how sick I was. T making his first joke. I remember them all being there when it was over. With our friends, when you get hurt. They are always there when you wake up. That's how it works," he says. "Super Sammy let the curse talk through me. And then she convinced it to leave me. She gave an abandoned island to the globe. So it didn't have to die either. We all got to live. Super Sammy and Uncle Danny, they make it so we all get to live."

"Daddy," I start. But I can't go on. I can't say Daddy why do you tell me these stories? What am I supposed to be getting out of them? Daddy why do you want me to think Mommy is everything and you are nothing? How much truth is in the stories? What do you really do? Will you keep coming home? But I can't say any of these things. So I just say, "I love you," because that's my message for my Daddy, even if I'm not always sure what his message for me is.


	8. Daddy's Back

Daddy's Back

Mommy is rubbing the knots out of Daddy's shoulders. Her hands side down his back, and stop at his shoulder blades. She looks at me, "Did Daddy ever tell you how he got these scars on his back, Gracie?" I can't see what scars she's talking about through his shirt like that, and I've never noticed scars on my Daddy's back before.

I shake my head, and I'm eager to know, because I'm discovering the stories Daddy doesn't tell are just as important as the ones he does.

"Some bad people took me," she says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because she was friends with Johlinar," Daddy says.

"I couldn't get out," Mommy adds.

"But Super Sammy has the strength of a thousand mortal men," I point out.

She shakes her head, "Not quite Gracie, and they drugged me."

"She still gave them a run for their money," Daddy says, "If they hadn't locked all the doors she would have needed no rescue. Your mother is no damsel in distress, I'll tell you that Gracie girl."

Then Mommy smiles, rubbing Daddy's back harder, "But your Daddy found me where I was and he saved me. But they shot him, twice," she touches two spots gently. "It's a good thing you were wearing a bullet proof vest, Jack."

"Maybourn is just lucky he wasn't the one who shot me," Daddy muttered. He cranked his head around to look at Mommy, "You don't think he was the one who shot me do you?" She shakes her head.

"Mommy," I ask. I don't have much chance of getting a real answer, but a lot better chance than if I were to ask Daddy the same question, "Why does Daddy pretend he isn't a hero when he is."

Daddy blushes. Mommy thinks for a second before she says, "I suppose Gracie, for the same reason he pretend he is stupid when he's really very smart," Dad tries to protest, but she makes a motion to shush him, "I don't know the whole reason Gracie. But I do know it has something to do with humility, and something to do with the element of surprise. Both things soldiers do good to have a lot of."

"Especially old soldiers," he says making a motion for Mommy to help him off the floor. And suddenly Daddy does look kind of old. Kind of old and kind of vulnerable.


	9. How Gracie Came To Be

How Gracie Came To Be

"Daddy, tell the story about how I came to be," I demand as he tucks me in.

"Well, there was this stork…" he starts. I giggle.

"No, the fairy tale Daddy," I insist.

"I thought that was a fairy tale," he says pretending to look startled. I roll my eyes.

"You know Daddy, the story about you and Mommy, and love, and rules, and me."

He smiles, "So your mother and I were in love for a long time."

"Ever since she walked into the briefing room," I add.

He smiles, "Pretty much, Gracie girl, and by this point…"

"You'd already confessed your love with the threat of a fairy wand shoved into your forehead," I say.

"Fraya," he mutters bitterly.

I start talking quickly, I really don't want to hear one of Daddy's speeches about how much he hates fairies, not today "But even though you loved each other you couldn't be together, because you were her boss, and it was against the rules."

"Right, regulations," he says shutting his eyes, "I'm a maverick, but not that much of a maverick," Daddy says. "Four years those regulations kept us apart."

"Loving from afar," I say. I'm not perfectly sure what that means, but I heard it somewhere and it sounded so beautiful.

"Mmmm," Daddy mummers, "Actually that would have been easier. What we were doing was loving from close. We worked together every single day. Right next to one another, day in, and day out. In every corner of the…uh…earth. Doing all sorts of important things, and there were loving one another, for four long years. Truth be told, it could have went on like that, maybe forever. But this is the story of how you saved us, Gracie."

"I never saved you Daddy," I said laughing.

"Oh, yes you did, you saved us from ourselves," he says wrapping his arm around me.

"So, Daddy, Super Sammy noticed something wrong in another country," I prompt.

"Yeah, Super Sammy is pretty observant. She saw that they were holding people in slavery. The people didn't know they were slaves. Or rather….didn't know there was such a thing as not being a slave."

"Mommy tried to free them from injustice," I say.

He grins, "Super Sammy does things like that. But this time it gets us all kidnapped, and our memories erased. We didn't know who we were or that we were not from that country."

"But you did know you loved one another," I add.

"Yeah," he smiled, "Not even the loss of our memories could take that away."

"Love, so strong," I say.

"Right, so we remembered the love," he says.

"But not the rules," I said grinning.

"And for the first time in four long years we were together, we were free (though we were slaves), we were happy," he grins.

"But then you remembered," I said.

The smile disappeared from his face, "Yeah, we remembered, and there we stood, remembering all the rules. Remembering that what we had done, done for weeks, was wrong. Remembering that we couldn't be together. She says 'Colonel' and I say 'Major' and there we are. Back to where we were. We were soldiers, Gracie, good soldiers."

"But you wanted to be together."

"Oh yes, Lordy, Gracie, we wanted to be together. But there were things we wanted even more. Things that are always more important than the thing you want the most. Things like the whole world, like more than the whole world."

"You were soldiers," I repeated slowly, trying to understand everything that meant. I knew it was a big part of who my father was, who my mother was.

"We are soldiers Gracie, but we found something more important than saving the world."

"What is that?" I ask.

He hugs me close, "You Gracie, you. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Back then we didn't know about you. So we snapped right back to 'Sir' and 'Carter' and told the slaves about freedom. We freed all those people who had had their memories stolen, their lives stolen."

"Pretty important stuff, Daddy."

"Yeah, Gracie, we do pretty important stuff," he says not looking at me for a second. Then he focuses on me, "But that didn't mean we shouldn't get to be happy too. Because of you, we get to save the world _and_ be happy."

Then I ask the questions that I've wanted to ask for a long time, "You still saving the world Daddy?" I ask.

He meets my eyes, "What are you Gracie? Five going on fifty?"

"Daddy," I say, he's weaseled out of questions like this before. Not today.

"I'm not saving the world anymore. Too old for that. I'm bossing around those saving the world," he says.

"Mommy?" I ask.

He sighs, "Gracie…" he says. But I'm still looking at him. I need to know this answer, "Yeah Gracie, Super Sammy is still saving the world. But I'll make sure she says safe."

"Except, you can't really promise me that, Daddy," I say.

He shuts his eyes, "But Super Sammy has the strength of a thousand mortal men, and a team who would do anything for her. She'll be fine, Gracie, she'll be fine." He looks at my face, "I never should have started telling you these stories," he says.

"I'm glad you did Daddy. I want to know. I need to know," I said leaning in toward him.

"That's why I told you the stories Gracie," he says kissing my forehead, "Mommy will keep coming home." I nod my head.

"So then we get home, and we're planning on going back to living just like we were. Apart, but together. In love, but never speaking of it."

"But Mommy found out about me," I said with a grin.

"That she did Gracie girl, that she did. But she didn't tell me right away. She was going to keep saving the world with you inside of her."

"Mommy wanted me to have some adventures," I said with a grin. That was a new line I'd thought up since the last time Daddy told me the story. He tickled me, that mean the really like the comment.

"Yeah, Gracie, you had a few adventures before you were born," he laughed. "But Auntie Janet made sure Mommy didn't go on the magic carpet."

"She was protecting me," I said, trying to remember Auntie Janet. It was getting hard. I thought about how she had died. About how Grandpa Jacob had died. I thought about what Mommy did at work, and I tried not to worry.

"Yes, Auntie Janet got to protect you first, but she won't be the last," he says.

"So tell me about the adventures I had before I was born, Daddy." I said.

"Well one of them was when your Mommy and I freed all these people. You were inside of her then," he says with a smile.

"But what happened after Auntie Janet wouldn't let Mommy go with you on the magic carpet?"

"Mommy told us she was going to have a baby-you," he says smiling at me with that look he has when he's remembering when I was 'knee high to a grasshopper'. "She didn't think I would know you were mine. She wanted to pretend she was having some baby with some other guy. She was going to keep living like we weren't in love. But I know that you were mine. Oh, Gracie girl, as soon as I knew you existed I loved you." He pauses to give me a kiss on the forehead.

"Why didn't she want you to know I was your daughter?" I asked, following the script again.

"Could have got me in trouble. Janet protecting you. Mommy protecting me. I was her boss. Defiantly shouldn't have been having babies with her."

"But you didn't know you were her boss when it happened," I said.

"Nope, all the 'sir' and 'Carter's' were gone, and all that was left was the love," he says with a grin. "So, I go and tell your Mommy. I tell her that I know you're mine. That I wanted, that I needed, to be your Daddy not just your Father."

"That you loved me" I said.

He nods, and he adds, "and that I loved her. So I had to make sure your Mommy took care of herself, of you."

"'Cause you know that Super Sammy never sleeps," I say.

"Or eats," he adds.

"So you had Uncle Murray, Carter sit her," I said laughing at the mental image.

He smiles, "Yep, Gracie, had to make sure your Mommy took care of you. But then," and his face goes from joy to darkness in a second. This part of the story always has that effect. There is some truth behind it which effects my Mommy and my Daddy a lot more than just during the story. Mommy always been overprotective of me. I heard Daddy whisper to a friend once that it was because, "we almost lost her before she was born." So I don't actually know what was _really _wrong with me, but I know it scared them.

"Then we found out that you had a curse. A curse, you got from me," he looks away.

"Daddy, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was Gracie, and I don't want your forgiveness until you are old enough to understand the whole story. To give or deny me forgiveness for real."

"How will I know I'm old enough to forgive you, Daddy," I ask leaning against him.

He says, "I'll let you know Gracie girl. But I have you a curse which made you get older a lot faster than you were supposed to. It was a curse that almost killed me once."

"But Super Sammy saved you," I say.

"Yes, she did save me. But the way she saved me wouldn't work to save you. Mommy had to figure out a different way to break the curse."

"But she's Super Sammy, you should have known she'd find a way."

"Yeah, she found a way, but Gracie, it was different, because, it was you. It was my kid." He's all worried.

"I'm fine now, Daddy." I assure him.

He holds me tight, "Yeah, you're fine. Uncle Danny came up with an idea to save you. That's how you got your middle name, baby girl. Then Uncle Danny and Mommy made the whole idea work out. They lifted the curse, and you started aging normally." He sighs, leaning back. This is where the story normally stops. But not today.

"Daddy, what was really wrong with me?"

"A curse that made you grow really fast, Gracie."

"No, Daddy, I mean I was sick as a baby. Don't I deserve to know what was wrong with me?"

He sits up and looks at me, "You do deserve to know Grace, but I can't tell you. I'm not allowed to tell you Grace, until you're eighteen then your medical records will be released to you. Until then, the stories are all I can give you."

And I know, it's more than Daddy is supposed to give me.

"Ok, Daddy, but you said I saved you and Mommy. But really I was a mistake, wasn't I?" I ask.

He holds my chin, "You are no mistake Gracie. You were not planned. But that doesn't make you a mistake. Do you know what your name means girl?"

I shook my head.

"Gift given undeserved," he says looking at me, "Do you understand me Gracie? You are a gift given undeserved."

"Undeserved?" I ask, unsure of the meaning of the word.

"It means you were way better than what we should have gotten. Not a mistake. A gift. A surprise."

"Thanks, Daddy."

Mommy enters the room, "You're setting a new record for slowest tuck in Jack," she says sitting down on the bed.

"Gracie wanted to hear stories about her as a baby," Daddy says.

"It's not a school night," Mommy says plopping down next to me, "Did I ever tell you about how your Dad designed a nursery for you? I never even thought about any of those things…"

"Because she as working on lifting the curse, on saving you, Gracie," Daddy breaks in.

"The point is Daddy painted your room, you remember your room before we repainted?" I nod, "Daddy did that, plus the ceiling," she says pointing up. When we redecorated we didn't touch the ceiling. It was beyond perfect.

"Exactly what the sky looked like the minute that Daddy found out I excited," I said grinning at him.

"Yes, Gracie, and the painting on the wall, and the clothes, and toys, and books, and diapers, everything. He was ready for you, I wasn't."

"Because you were saving her, Sammy," Daddy said.

"Because, I was a surprise, Mommy," I said.

Mommy looks at Daddy with daggers in her eyes. "Sammy, she was asking questions," Daddy says defending himself.

She shakes her head at him, "Gracie, what did Daddy tell you about you…and Daddy and me?"

"I'm the reason you are together," I say.

"God Jack!" she says glaring at him before, turning to focus on me.

"I'm a gift given undeserved," I say trying to dig Daddy out of trouble, "And if it weren't from me, you might have kept loving on and on without being together."

She glances at him, and then back at me. The anger is out of her eyes, "I suppose that is mostly true. But Gracie, you know I love your father." I nod. "And I love you." I nod. "And I'm glad you exist." I nod. "My life would be worse without you," I just look at her. "You make my life better Gracie, every day."

I don't know what to say, "Thanks Mommy," I say, and my voice sounds all strange.

"See, I fixed it Jack. Seriously you didn't know you weren't supposed to tell a little kid that she's the reason you got married?"

"Daddy fixed it before," I say and he grins at me, "And Daddy didn't have to tell me."

"You keep thinking other people can't do math Sammy, she's YOUR daughter, she can do math." I'm not really sure what math is involved.

"Alright, Night Gracie." Mommy says giving me a kiss.

"No, I want to hear stories about the adventures I had before I was born."

"Well, this one time I was floating out in space, and your Mommy was just about to have you," Mommy rolls her eyes kisses me, and smacks Daddy on the shoulder as she leaves the room.

"Mommy left earth with me inside of her?" I asked.

"Yeah, not her brightest move. But T and I, we needed saving. We were out in a magic carpet and our space suits were running out of air. We needed saving, and she is after all…"

"Super Sammy," I say with a grin.

"So Uncle Danny, and Grandpa Jacob, and Mommy pile on a magic carpet (Grandpa Jacob's magic carpet, which is way bigger than ours) with lots of extra oxygen and they went out a saved us. Brought us home."

"How long was this before I was born?" I asked.

"Actually you were born on the way back Gracie. Right on a magic carpet with your Uncle Danny playing doctor," he says. "Now Mommy is right, way past your bedtime girl," and he gives me a kiss on the forehead.

"Daddy," I ask, and he turns to look at me at the door.

"Are you and Mommy going to have more babies?"

He sighs, "Doesn't look like that's in the cards, Grace."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Sometimes," he closes his eyes, "Sometimes even when you really, really want something you don't get to have it. But we got you Gracie. Grace is enough."


	10. A Visit to Heck

A Visit to Heck

"Daddy, tell me about the time you went to heck," I ask as he and mom tuck me in.

"Sure, I'll just let Mom give you a kiss, and we'll get started," Daddy says.

"Oh, I'm staying for this one, Jack," Mommy says sitting down on the edge of my bed with a smirk.

"Ok, so Grandpa Jacob got kidnapped and taken to heck," Daddy says.

"By the devil himself," I add helpfully.

"Not exactly the devil," Mommy protests.

"Oh, pretty close," Daddy says.

Mom shuts her eyes, "Ok, yeah, not far off."

"So Mommy's Daddy gets kidnapped and we jump on a magic carpet to save him," Daddy says.

"Magic carpets go to heck?" I ask.

"Oh magic carpets go pretty much everywhere," Daddy says.

"And on the way Mommy had to remember some things Johlinar told her, and she'd forgotten," I said.

"And Marty the fairy CHEATED! Played dirty with the memories," Daddy protests.

"Come on Jack, he was just trying to get me calm after a bad memory," Mommy says. But Daddy glares at her, and she grabs his hand, "I never like Martouf, Jack. That was Johlinar."

"You liked him a little Sammy," Daddy says.

"I've never seen you jealous before, Jack."

"Gracie, should I tell you the story of when Mommy fell for a glowy fairy godfather?" Daddy asks.

"I did not fall for Orlin, Jack," Mommy protests.

"Oh really Sam, you let him hang out in our basement for how long?" Daddy says.

"I did not let him hang out in the basement. Had you believed me you could have chassed his stocker butt out of there. But no, you thought I was going nuts. Too much going on at work and too much time alone with Gracie. Sammy's going nuts. She just needs to go fishing. No, I said, there is an alien in our basement Jack. But you didn't believe me. Now your jealous?" Mommy's actually pretty angry.

"Wait a second, so some guy lived in our basement after I was born?" I asked in horror.

Mommy and Daddy are both staring at me. "Not exactly a guy," Mom says carefully.

"Right like what Sam, a glowly beam of energy? That was more what he was," Jack says.

"How old was I?" I asked in horror.

"Eight months or so," Mommy says. "Look Gracie, we probably shouldn't have told you that."

"Alright," Daddy says, "Back to our journey into heck. Marty is pushing Mommy hard to remember."

"Hey, it worked Jack. I remembered a nasty man Johlinar had to pretend she liked," Mommy explained.

Daddy flinches. "But the nasty man didn't like being reminded of Johlinar, got us thrown in a prison inside of hell, who would have thought they had such a thing?"

"But at least we found Grandpa Jacob down there," Mommy points out.

"Right, and that was just before they took us one by one to drug us up (drugs are bad Gracie) and make us hallucinate. Fun!"

"I didn't say it was fun Jack. We were in heck. Heck is not fun (so say your prayers Gracie, girl). But getting one on one time with the nasty man did mean I figure out how he got off the planet, and thereby how we could."

"Super Sam saves the day again," Daddy points out.

"Wasn't quite that simple, Jack. We had to…uh trick the magic carpet?" Mommy said uncertainly.

"Yeah, this ones pretty hard to explain without using words we can't use," Jack says. "Should have let me leave the original paintings on her nursery wall, and we wouldn't have to be having this conversation now. She'd know what we were talking about."

"What was painted on my wall?" I asked.

"Classified information," Mommy said annoyed.

"Anyway we'd mostly gotten away when we ran into another bad guy," Mommy says.

"Who we thought was dead," Daddy added.

"And who wanted to use us to buy his way out of heck," Mommy added.

"If he was in heck wasn't he dead?" I asked.

"Umm…Yeah, but the bad guys don't always stay dead," Daddy says.

"So lots of people made it out of heck?" I said.

"Sorta Gracie girl, but we were the first good guys to make it out of heck," Daddy said.

Mommy glares at him, "Fine, first none pixie non fairies to make it out. The first humans to get out of heck."

"When did they hit your knee again Daddy?" I asked.

"Always with the knees, why is it always the knees Gracie?" he asks tickling me.

Mommy's eyes are locked on Daddy's, "Your father got that particular knee injury trying to keep some guys from taking me."

"To be tortured?" I asked.

"Drugged and tortured," Daddy says. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you Sammy."

"There were a lot of times when we couldn't save each other Jack," she says, and then she turns to me, "But we will always save each other when it counts. Got it Gracie?" she asks.

"I don't know, Mommy. I don't think Daddy does much saving now days," I say.

"Your father isn't nearly as old as he pretends to be," Mommy says with a laugh, "He can do an awful lot of saving from behind that big desk in General's office. More than once he's chosen keeping me safe over the safety of the world. He'll keep saving me, Gracie have no fear."

"Yeah but after I save Super Sammy she saves the world so it's really a win win." Daddy says. Then they each give me a kiss and it's bedtime once again.


	11. How I Met Your Mommy

How I Met Your Mommy

"Daddy," I say sitting on the bed. "Its' been a long time since you told me the story of how you met."

"Ok, kid, this is how I met your Mommy. Before we met I'd already taken a trip on a magic carpet. Your mother had never been on one. But she figured out how to make them work faster and better."

"That is what Super Sammy does."

"That's right Gracie girl. On my first time on the magic carpet, Uncle Danny and I went on the magic carpet to Egypt where we fought our first pixie. At the time we thought they were the only pixie in the…uh…world. So Uncle Danny marries his princess,"

"By accident," I laugh, "How do you marry someone by accident?"

"Easier than you might think, especially when there is cake involved," Daddy mutters.

"I know you like cake Daddy, but Uncle Danny doesn't."

"Right, Uncle Danny, there was no cake involved, foot washing though. Anyway Uncle Danny marries his princess, and I retire for the second time. Meanwhile your Mommy is making super powered magic carpets. A year later we find out the whole earth is crawling with pixies. So they need me to go fetch Uncle Danny and his princess. But my new team has a new member on it."

"Mommy," I say.

"That's right and she walks right in trying to prove she is stronger and braver than any of the boy soldiers," Daddy says.

"Which she was," I point out.

"Of course, she proved that before too long. But saying it didn't prove it," he says.

"But it was Mommy like," I said.

"So she is, so she is," Daddy says, "But her being a girl wasn't what bothered me."

"No she was a scientist," I say pretending to roll my eyes.

"Right, but Grandpa George put me in my place with that. He said, 'she's way smarter than you are'," Daddy says.

"And she is," I say grinning at him. He grins right back at me.

"Jack, you going to tell her about how you shoved me through the…uh…onto the magic carpet?" Mommy asks coming to sit down on the bed.

"Hey, you were examining the…fibers, we had to go kick some pixie butt. You would have sat there all day!"

"When did you know you loved Daddy?" I ask Mommy.

She makes the face she always makes when she doesn't really know.

"I know when I knew she loved me," Daddy says with a grin.

"Fraya," I say.

"Oh, this was before Fraya," Daddy says, and Mommy is glaring at him.

"I got a clue when she snuck into the locker room and started kissing me," Daddy said.

"Wow, this is not the story I heard of your first kiss," I said looking from one to the other.

"Oh this kiss doesn't count, because she was cursed at the time, Gracie," he says with a smile.

"A curse that makes you kiss people?" I ask.

"Actually, it makes you do whatever you really want to do, but are stopping yourself from doing," Mommy explained, "Daddy punched Uncle Danny."

I glare at him, "You punched Uncle Danny?"

Daddy nods.

"Why?" I ask.

"The virus," he offers raising an eyebrow like Uncle Murray does.

"He thought Uncle Daniel liked me," Mommy says grinning, "He got jealous. That's when I knew your father liked me," she says grinning.

"In my defense, I'd just been kiss attacked by you, and you were in danger with a curse we didn't understand. Who could blame me for being a little overprotective?"

Mommy just grinned, "You were jealous, Jack."

He grins back, "Alright Gracie, so that's the story of the first kiss. The story I told you about was actually 28th kiss. It's just the first one that counts, because no magic was acting on us."

Mom and Dad get up to leave, but as they go I hear Mom say, "I count only 27 kisses Jack."

"Umm…Sam…There's something I never told you about the whole time loop thing…"


	12. 28 Kisses

28 Kisses

"Tell me the story of all the kisses you and Mommy had before the one that counted," I demand.

"Well, it wasn't long ago I told you the story of the time she kissed me in the locker room, so I wouldn't tell that one again," Daddy said.

"Which is the one Mommy didn't know about?" I ask.

"Gracie, you have got some big ears there," he said playing with my ears, "Yeah, your Mom didn't know about this kiss."

"Did you do it when she was asleep?" I ask.

"No, Grace, a spell. Uncle Murray and I were under a spell which made us relive the same eight hours over, and over, and over, and, over, and over, and over, and over…"

"I get the point Daddy."

"Doubt it Gracie, there were a lot of overs in there," he replies.

"So how did Super Sammy save you?" I ask.

"See that was the problem, Super Sammy and Uncle Daniel COULDN'T save us this time. Uncle Murray and I were the only ones who could save the day. We were the only ones who kept the memory. And you know Uncle Murray and I are not fabulous at translation. We had to learn the language-the language of Uncle Danny's guardian angel. Days and days of playing school with Uncle Danny," he pretends to bang his head against the wall.

"Bet you loved that," I said with a grin.

"I taught Uncle Murray to juggle," he says with a grin, "Anyway, for a while we got sick of it we took some turns off. We decided to do some fun things since no one would remember."

"And the first fun thing you did was kiss mom?" I asked.

"Ah, not the first thing. First I did some pottery," he said.

"Pottery, Dad? Seriously?" I said.

"Don't tell anyone, ok?" he says blushing, "Also rode a bike through the halls of work, and Murray and I made the world's longest golf swing."

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"With some, uh, magic fibers from the flying carpet. Anyway then I decided it was time to the thing I'd wanted to do since I met your mother. I quite my job."

"'Cause of the rules," I said.

"I had the resignation to Grandpa George right in the control room, and give your mother one er heck of a smooch," he says, "but Mommy doesn't remember that kiss," he says.

"Why not?"

"Cause we translated the thing, and lifted the curse, and no one remembers what happened during the time loop but Uncle Murray and I."

"And you never told Mommy," I said reproachfully.

"No," he says shaking his head, "Not until recently."

"Naughty, naughty," I said shaking my head.

"Yes Gracie, Mommy already gave me that lecture, now we're working on kiss number twenty-six. For this one we are underground, memories erased. I don't remember my past, but I'm not worried, because I do remember her. I know her, and I love her, and I'm not scared. We finish a shift. We're working hard. You know your mothers a good worker right Gracie?"

Is he kidding? I've seen her clean. I just nod.

"Yeah of course you do. She was amazing down there."

"Work of a thousand mortal men?"

"Yeah, Gracie, she does that. And we finished the day's work, and I just kissed her. And she looked at me all surprised. I set, 'Don't we do that?' and she said, 'I don't remember, but I'd like to.' And then she kissed me, and we're down to…"

"Twenty-four kisses, Dad," I say.

"Good, glad you don't lose count. So, then there was the goodnight kiss that night. The good morning kiss that morning…"

"If you aren't going to give any more detail than that you can stop with all the kisses," I said rolling my eyes. Twenty-two suddenly sounded like a lot.

"Well there is one more kiss you might want to hear about," he says with a smile, "Your mother and I were talking. By now we were starting to question, starting to worry about the things we couldn't remember. Starting to remember things something important-something we couldn't name. But we knew it was important. Your mother was scared. Scared that the thing we couldn't quite remember would pull us apart," he says with a ghost of sadness in his eyes.

"It almost did," I said.

"Yeah, and if the next part had gone differently it would have," he said smiling at my confusion, "I told her that whatever it was, I would love her. She knew she'd love me too, but she asked me if she thought we were married wherever we belonged."

"You weren't, Daddy," I protested.

"But I didn't know that, Gracie. I told her, if we weren't we should be, we would be," he says.

"And you were," I said.

"Yeah we were, because of you Gracie," he says.

"I thought you said it was because of what happened next," I said.

"It was, and what happened next was our 18th kiss," he said.

"Kisses lead to babies, Daddy?" I ask.

He blushes, "Sometimes, Gracie, sometimes, we'll have this conversation again in a couple years."

Mom walks in and gives me a goodnight kiss, and then she kisses Daddy too.

"What number is that kiss Daddy?" I ask.

He grins, "I lost count a long time ago Grace."


	13. The Amazing Disapearing Mommy

The Amazing Disappearing Mommy

Gracie's POV Based on Arthur's Mantel

"It was a normal Tuesday morning, which was bad enough in and of itself. Tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week for many reasons. First of all, Mommy works late. Second of all, it's the day before library day which means I'm out of books. Third of all, there are no tests. Fourth of all, it's the only day all week where we don't have either gym or computers. All we have is music class.

"But it doesn't stay a normal Tuesday for long. It happens right when we are leaving the room to go to music class. Dad's walking down the hall. He's wearing his uniform. Dad always changes before he came home. Before he comes home at the end of the day, not to my school in the middle of the morning. But really the first thing I noticed was his face. There was definitely something wrong, and with a falling feeling in my stomach I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

""Mommy was still saving the world," he'd told me. "But I'll make sure she always comes home."

"I knew he couldn't keep that promise.

""Daddy," I say running to him, surprised that I'm crying. He scoops me up, and whispers, "Gracie, Gracie," in my ear rocking me back and forth. He holds me for a bit before he pulls me away so I can see his eyes, "You know that missing is very different than dead Gracie?" he asks. I nod my head, the horrible feeling in my stomach is ever so slightly less painful. "She went missing right on base, and Uncle Cameron is missing too. They will take care of each other. We always take care of each other," he says stroking my hair. I bury my face in my father's big strong shoulder for another long moment.

"I hear Mrs. Wilkin's voice, "General O'Neill," she says. The class has gone on without me.

""Sorry, Mrs. Wilkins, I checked in at the office. Her mother is missing," he says in hushed tones.

""Oh, I'm so sorry," Mrs. Wilkins said.

"I pull away and try to sound very grown up, "Daddy, you have to go back to the base now right?"

"No, Gracie, we're going home," Daddy says.

""But I have school, and you have your uniform on," I said.

"He bends down on the floor, right on to that bad knee of his, so I know it is bad, "Gracie, sweetheart, your mother is missing in action. We're going home."

"My stomach is hurting even more. This was really, really bad. "Ok, then let me get some books," I say.

""Grace, you could catch up easy when you get back," Mrs. Wilkin says.

""If I take the books I wouldn't have to catch up," I say.

""She's a bright one, too bright sometimes," Daddy mutters.

""I'd been meaning to speak to you. Gracie's bored. Maybe we should think about having her skip the second grade. Of course we can discuss this when your wife is back safe and sound, General," Mrs. Wilkin says as I take the books.

"Gracie's bored, Mrs. Wilkin had said, was I?

""That's a lot of books for a little girl," Daddy says taking them from me.

"Mrs. Wilkin rubs my back as I leave, "I'm so sorry Grace."

"We sit in the car and Daddy starts to drive, "Daddy tell me what happened to Mommy."

"He glances in the rear view mirror at me.

""I know you can't tell me the real story. I meant the fairy tale version," I say.

""Ugh, ok, so I haven't told you many recent stories. You know Uncle Daniel's glowy guardian angel?" I nod. "Ok, well there are bad guys like that too, let's call them demons for the sake of argument. Well this angel name Merlin…"

""King Arthur and Merlin?" I ask.

'"You read too much Gracie." He says.

'"That one is from TV, Dad," I say.

'"That's my girl," he says with a sad lopsided grin, "Anyway Merlin made a way to beat up demons, and Mommy has been looking for it. Save the world kind a thing. She was playing with a map and she disappeared."

'"A map?" I ask.

'"A magical map," he adds. He looks in the rear view mirror again, and he sees my worried face. "Gracie, did I ever tell you about the time when your mother single handedly went against the nastiest thing in the world?"

"I shook my head.

""She called it a super soldier, Gracie. It was big, and strong, and you couldn't kill it by shooting it, or blowing it up, or anything really. We were defenseless against it, until your mother built a weapon that killed super soldiers."

""That's what Super Sammy does,' I say, and there is a choke in my voice. I sound small, and for the first time I realize I am just a little girl.

"Daddy looks in the mirror at me, and there is strength in his voice, "That is right. That is what Super Sammy does. This is also what Super Sammy does. She had the only way to kill a super soldier, actually half of it, Grandpa Jacob had the other half. The super soldier was chasing her through the woods, for days Gracie. Just her and him. She had no guns, no explosives, nothing. He had lasers, and guns, and armor nothing could pierce. She came home that time. She's the only one who would have survived that. But she came home. And she's coming home this time too."

"I nod my head. "That's why you told the stories isn't it Daddy?"

""Part of the reason Gracie girl."

"I look at my Daddy, and I remember the time he looked old to me, human to me. He doesn't look old now, but he looks…he looks something. Then it hits me. Daddy's wife is missing, same as my mother. "Your right Daddy," I say my voice as strong as his, "She's coming home."

"We get home, and Daddy carries all my books inside, and sits down on the couch.

""What are we supposed to do now, Daddy?" I ask.

""Mostly we wait Gracie," Daddy says.

""Why don't you go save Mommy?" I say rocking from foot to foot. He looks at me. "In all your stories you save one another."

""Other people are doing the saving this time, Gracie," he says.

""Why?" I ask.

"He doesn't answer. At least he doesn't answer with words. Then quietly I make my guess, "Is it because of me?"

"He looks at me, "Gracie, I'm not going invisible on you too, Gracie."

"My fault. I shift from one foot to another, "If Mommy doesn't come back this time it will be because I stopped you from saving her," I say.

""No, Gracie," he says grabbing my shoulder, "No."

"His phone rings, and he goes into another room to take it. Classified, military stuff. Stuff I'm not allowed to hear, stuff I'm not allowed to understand. Even though it has to do with my mother, with my father.

"He comes back, and he's not looking me in the eyes, "Uncle Danny just disappeared."

"I can't breath for a second.

""But they have evidence that they are right there, in that room. There answering yes or no questions. She's there Gracie."

"I nod, "And you'll go save them?"

""Dr. Lee is saving them," Daddy says.

""Dr. Lee?" I screech, "Dr. Lee is saving Mommy?" I get up and start pulling on his arm, "Come on Daddy, we're not leaving it up to Dr. Lee."

""What have you got against Dr. Lee, Gracie?" Daddy asked.

""Daddy, I met him at the picnic, you know more about engineering than he does, and that's supposed to be his specialty."

"He sits still for a moment than he says, "Who am I kidding? Lee is an idiot. Let's go Gracie." And he lets me pull him off the chair.

"We get into the car, "Gracie, you'll get to enjoy my office."

""I wanta help save Mommy," Daddy says.

""I know you _want_ to Gracie, but you are five. Not happening."

""Sorry about the grammar Daddy, and I'm almost six."

""Six still isn't old enough to work on dangerous top secret missions, and how on earth did you pick up that I was correcting your grammar? No one gets that."

""I'm your daughter, Dad. How old do I have to be before I can work on top secret missions?"

""At least eighteen or with a bachelors degree, which ever comes first, smarty pants," Daddy replies dryly.

""Alright, well I've never seen your office before, so it's a win-win."

"We get there and Daddy does what we always does when I have a doctor's appointment. I can't go to a normal doctor, something about that illness when I was born. So I go to the base doctor. But it's all in amongst classified stuff. So he but a blindfold on, and plugs my ears. Seems kind of weird, but it's fun, like a game. It's a noisy bumpy ride, and when it comes to an end I'm sitting on a desk. I let my hands spread across it, knowing it's my Daddy's desk. There are a lot of papers. He shoves them into a desk drawer, and I hear a key locking it. He takes off my blindfold, and I look around Daddy's office.

"General. People say it referring to my Daddy all the time, and of course I know what a general is. But actually sitting in his office, it made me really understand-general. But I don't talk about these things. Daddy doesn't do well with praise, so I just say, "Lot of my art work in this room."

""What can I say, got good taste," he says. "Walter," he calls.

""Yes, sir," Water enters the room.

""Make sure Gracie's ok," he says.

""Of course General," Walter says. I met him at the picnic, I liked him.

""And Gracie, you need anything, just call for Walter, he can fix seriously any problem in the world."

""General, sir," Walter tries to protest while blushing, but Daddy's already gone.

""Need anything Grace?" Walter asks. I realize why I like him. He treats me like a grown up.

""No, I'm good," I say with a smile. He leaves and shuts the door. I pace. I find Daddy's yoyo. Then I sit down to my books. See, I am my mother's daughter as well as my fathers, and books are more of a distraction than a yoyo for me.

"It's the better part of a day before the door opens. It's Mommy. I'm in her arms in a second. She's holding me, rubbing my back. She doesn't talk meaningless words, like Daddy would do to comfort me. But that's ok, being held, smelling her sweet strawberry shampoo, it's enough.

""Jack, you brought Gracie on base?"

""I was doing the expected thing, twiddling my thumbs at home with my daughter, when she pointed out to me that I should not be trusting Dr. Lee with your safety," Daddy responds.

"Mom pulls me away to give me a look, "Dr. Lee is a good engineer," she says reproachfully.

"I give her a look.

""Ok, but he tries really hard," she says.

"Uncle Danny came into his office while I was hugging Mom.

""Danny saved your Mommy though," Daddy says clapping Uncle Danny on the back.

""Jack," he protests. Modesty, lots of modesty, you must need it when you save the world each and every day.

"I jump into Uncle Danny's arms, "Thanks," I say.

""Gracie," he says, holding me somewhat awkwardly. Uncle Danny isn't great with kids. Which is actually a good thing, because it means he treats me like a grown-up. Only sometimes, sometimes when I act like a kid, like jumping into his arms, he isn't quite sure what to do with me. So I jump down.

""Ok, so let's go home, Gracie," Mommy says. Daddy fastens the blindfold over my eyes.

""I'll take her, Jack," Mommy says, and he hands me to her.

"By the time we got home it was late, and my parents ushered me off to bed. I tried to sleep, for a little bit. But I found myself needing to see Mommy. To make sure she could still be seen. It was early enough that they were not in the bedroom yet, so I slipped downstairs. I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but today I was.

""Jack, you shouldn't have even told her," Mommy's voice says.

""She might have noticed when you didn't come home Sammy," Dad says.

""You could have made some excuse. I want to keep her out, out of the worry, Jack," she says, "Let's make a 72 hour don't tell Gracie rule, you know we come back from just about anything. We've come back from death more than once."

""Ok, so I probably told Gracie a little too soon, but I won't promise never to tell her when you are missing or hurt."

"Mommy closes her eyes. "Jack, I've got to tell you that, that I wouldn't have done it had I known."

""Sammy, your job is dangerous. It will always be dangerous, every time you go to work we know you are in danger," Dad says.

""I know, but I it wasn't supposed to be dangerous today, Jack. I wasn't going off world, if I was I would have told someone," Mommy continues.

""Told someone what?" he asks.

""…But I just figured. I mean I'd work today. Tell you tonight, and tell others tomorrow. I mean we may not have typical lives, but still a husband should know first," she continues.

""Sammy? Know about what?" his voice is soft, but intense.

""The baby," she says. I hear a chair scrapping back, and nothing else for a little bit.

""Baby huh?" Dad says excitement in the voice, "And do we know what effect being out of phase has on babies?"

""Looks like none," Mommy says.

""Good, you didn't do anything wrong, Sammy. Shouldn't have been dangerous on base. But stay out of Bill's lab," she laughs. "So where do we stand on the nanites?"

""I took the treatments I did for Gracie. Wouldn't know for sure if it worked for two days," Mom said.

""Lam gave you some vitamins?" he asks.

""Been on the vitamins for five years Jack, since we started trying," she says.

""Five years," he repeats, "Can I get you a glass of milk?" he asks getting up. I know Daddy's going to see me when he gets the milk, so I take this opportunity to come around the corner.

""Grace, do you want some milk?" Dad asks.

""Jack, she has school tomorrow," Mom says.

""Do I have to go? I finished all the work for the week." I say.

""You were only in my office for half a day," Dad says.

""Well, actually, I'm not done with science for the whole week. I got distracted and did four chapters near the end of the book."

""Four chapters?" Dad asks, "How many chapters does your book have?"

""Ten," I shrug.

""Sammy, I talked to Gracie's teacher today, and she mentioned that Gracie might be able to skip second grade," Dad says.

"Mommy doesn't look surprised, a little proud, but not surprised. "Gracie, what is seven time eight?"

""Fifty-six, you didn't even pick a hard one," I pointed out.

""Can you write in cursive?" she asks

"I grab a sheet of paper, and in cursive write, "I'm glad you are visible again." Mom kisses my forehead, "Yeah, I think skipping second grade needs to be discussed," she says.

""Your mother's right though, it is a school night, so drink you milk and go to bed Gracie," Dad says trying to use his stern voice.

""I think maybe we should tell her some good news first?" Mommy says. She says it like it is a question.

"Daddy grins and nods.

""Gracie, your father and I are having another baby," Mommy says, and I wrap my arms around her.

""Can I say hi?" I ask uncertainly. She nods. So I bend down, "Hey baby brother/sister we're going to have a lot of fun."

""Gracie, babies don't do much when they are first born," Dad says, "They mostly just sit there and cry."

"Mommy sighs, "Way to sell her on the concept of a sibling, Jack."

""I just don't want her to be disappointed," Dad says.

"Mommy is looking all worried, and I think I know why. I have a plan to make her feel better.

"After I finish my milk Daddy gets up to tuck me in.

""Keep it short tonight, Jack," Mommy says.

""I want you to tuck me in Mommy," I say leaning against her. She smiles, but it's one of those smiles covered in distraction like when she's doing calculus in her head.

"When we get upstairs she lays down next to me, "I can't tell stories like your Daddy can, Gracie,"

""I don't really want a story, just you," I tell her, "My Mommy."

""Gracie, I hope you aren't still scared about today. It was fine the whole time."

""No, Mommy I just want you to know you are a good mother. That the baby is lucky to have to as a mother, that I am lucky too," I say.

""It's nice of you to say that Gracie, but your father is a much better parent than I am," she says with a sigh.

""Not true, Mommy. You are just really different parents. It wouldn't be good if I just had Daddy."

""Come on Gracie, what would you miss?" she asks.

""Real food, Daddy don't cook," I say, and she smirks. "And you know he'd let me watch the Simpsons."

""He doesn't does he Gracie? because we had a deal. He holds off on the Simpsons, and I hold off on the technobabble, until…"

""No Mommy, Daddy doesn't let me watch the Simpsons," I said with a grin. "But if you weren't around, he would. And he couldn't check my homework."

""Gracie, your father is perfectly capable of checking first grade homework. Now algebra, I'm not sure about, but he can handle first grade homework," she protests.

""And Daddy would not give me a bedtime, and he'd let me play outside in the rain," I continued.

""No he wouldn't, your father knows you are susceptible to pneumonia," I'm giving her a look, "Ok, you're right, he would."

""But the most important thing Daddy could never get is…is science. Like how when you see something, and you see it, but you also see past and through it to all the beautiful things it does. Like how plants and animals are locked in this cycle. Plants breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen. People breathing out oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. Or plants making sunlight into sugar. And animals making sugar into energy. Round and round forever," Mommy's eyes are shinning. "Daddy can never understand how beautiful that is," I finish.

""Gracie, you sound like a biologist," she says. Her tone is light, but it still almost sounds like an insult.

""Don't worry Mommy, the hard scientists are still my first love," I say. She whips the hair from my eyes, and begins singing, "The periodic table of elements."

"I open one eye, "Mommy does this count as technobabble?"

""Shh! Don't tell your father!""

"Gracie! Time for school." Mommy shouts.

"So that is the story of the adventure you had before you were born, Carter," I say pulling my finger out of my baby brother's mouth. He protests a little so I shove a pacifier in his mouth. "See ya latter little man."

A/N: This series is done, but a sequel will be coming.


End file.
